Two Kinds of Quasi-Migration in the Middle Zone: Central Europe as a Space for Transit Migration and Mobility for Profit

Abstract

This paper presents the development and nature of the streams international mobility specific for Central and Eastern Europe in the 1980s and 1990s: transit migration of third country nationals across the region Westward, and mass cross-border mobility of petty traders and short-term workers. It points at entry policies of the states in the region and their Western neighbors, which made the region a kind of buffer zone between the post-Soviet space and the EU, the legacy of the relevant policies in the Soviet bloc, earlier historical ties and cultural affinities, as well as the effects of radical economic transformation.

Keywords: international migrations, international mobility, Central Europe, migration policy